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Turn your passion for analytics into action and showcase your ideas that can make a difference to society through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
UCL School of Management is collaborating with Imperial Business School’s Department of Analytics, Marketing & Operations and Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation for the Analytics for Society Award 2025, proudly sponsored by INFORMS and The Institute of Analytics.
This student-led competition promotes the use of analytics, optimisation, and visualisation tools to explore and tackle problems for the good of our society, specifically addressing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The awards will be presented during the final stage of the event at Imperial College Business School, South Kensington campus at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday 12 March 2025.
Interested in attending? Register today
How to enter:
Stage 1: Video and Summary Submission
Teams will prepare a five-minute video and a summary that demonstrates how data visualisation tools and/or state-of-the art analytical techniques can be used to:
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Explore issues threatening, and opportunities contributing to, one or a combination of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals (SDGs)
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Address these issues and/or explain the impact of these opportunities using data analytics
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Communicate the findings to a wider audience effectively and creatively
Participation Criteria:
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The presentation video is recommended to be over 4 minutes and strictly capped under 5 minutes
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Video entries must be submitted on the dedicated platform
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The summary should be either in word or pdf format, with a cap of 400 words and should be sent via email to analyticsforsocietyawards@imperial.ac.uk
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You can participate individually or in a team of up to four
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Cross-university teams are allowed
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Participants must be currently enrolled as students at a recognised university or college at the time of registration
Sample projects that teams have formulated in the past include:
2024 Winner: SkillBridge
An inventive solution to eradicate extreme poverty by utilising micro-credentials and Career Map to empower underprivileged young people in securing jobs. (Team members: Ukachi Carol Okere and Jiunn Wen Tan)
2023 Winner: MicroSentry
An innovative solution to monitor microplastic contamination in our water bodies. (Team members: Nirmal Thomas, Irene Jia, Grace Duan and Linxi Cao)
Other examples include:
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A ride pooling platform that connects women so they can travel together, safer and cheaper (SDG #5)
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A design plan of an IoT sensor integrated into food packaging designed to tackle food wastage by providing real-time data and insights (SDG #2, #3 and #12)
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A formulation of an optimisation problem that ensures the optimal allocation of students to a scholarship program based on their merit and financial background in order to reduce inequalities (SDG #10)
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An application of time series forecasting to estimate when energy demand will be too high to meet supply in rural areas to enable access to affordable energy (SDG #7)
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A mock-up for an analytical dashboard that examines the sources of drinking water and their primary usage per province in a country with poor access to clean drinking water (SDG #6)
Note: Teams are encouraged to present ideas and their quantifiable impact without necessarily producing a prototype or performing any data analysis.
The deadline for the video submission is Friday 21 February 2025 at 23:59 GMT
Stage 2: Screening
To ensure that your team has the best chance of being selected for the final round, share your precious work with your friends/colleagues and ask for their support! The selection will be determined by an internal review with a weight attached to public votes.
The voting platform will be open from Saturday 22 February 2025 at 10:00 GMT to Tuesday 25 February 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Stage 3: Awards Ceremony
If your team is selected as a finalist, you will have the chance to get mentorship and pitch your idea to a panel of judges on the awards night.
The winner will receive a grand prize, with additional cash prizes for the runners-up and participation certificates. The winner(s) will also gain free membership to INFORMS. Please note the decisions will be made by the judging panel on site and no voting will occur at this stage.
Judging criteria
The judging panel will assess submissions based on the following criteria ensuring a comprehensive and fair evaluation of each entry:
Content (60%)
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Problem: Identifies the most pressing issues relating to any specific SDG categories (30%)
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Solution: Arrives at a creative solution to address these issues, or explain the impact of these opportunities, in an innovative way using data analytics (30%)
Delivery (40%)
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Communicates the findings to a wider audience effectively and creatively (20%)
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Leverages data visualisation tools and state-of-the art communication/presentations techniques. (20%)
If you have any questions regarding the award, forming groups, or submission details please email us.
Download the Participant Handbook
This event is brought to you by:
A group of students from Imperial Business School and UCL School of Management’s MSc Business Analytics and MBA 2025 cohort passionate about data analytics and sustainability:
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Ayodeji Faji (President) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial College London
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Dilani Antonvijayakumar (Marketing) - MSc Business Analytics, University College London
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Elena Lickel (Sponsorship) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial College London
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Emily Peters (Treasurer) - MBA, Imperial College London
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Jacques Lin (Program - keynote speaker & judges) - MSc Business Analytics, University College London
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Margaux Drochon (Event) - MSc Business Analytics, Imperial College London
This event is proudly supported by:
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Professor Wolfram Wiesemann (Head of Analytics, Marketing, and Operations Department, Imperial College London)
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Professor Sankalp Chaturvedi (Associate Dean EDI, Co-Director Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation, Imperial College London)
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Professor David Alderton (Associate Professor (Education), Program Director, MSc Business Analytics, University College London)
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Dr Esma Koca (Lecturer, BA/BAO/MBA cohort, Imperial College London)
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Hannah Heritage (Gandhi Centre Coordinator, Imperial College London)
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Stephen Vaz (Platform Design and Technical Support - Imperial College London)
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The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
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The Institute of Analytics
Proudly Sponsored by INFORMS and The Institute of Analytics
Contact us
Contact the Analytics for Society Awards team
Instagram: @analyticsforsociety
